Remuneration of Members of the German Bundestag

Since 1 July 2024, the monthly remuneration received by Members of the Bundestag has been set at 11.227,20 euro. Members of the Bundestag do not receive any additional annual payments such as holiday pay or Christmas bonuses. Their remuneration constitutes taxable income.

Article 48(3) of the Basic Law stipulates that Members of the Bundestag are entitled to remuneration which is adequate to ensure their independence.  The amount of the remuneration must reflect the importance of the special position held by a Member of the Bundestag and the responsibility and burdens accompanying that office. It must also take account of the status attaching to tenure of a parliamentary seat within the constitutional system. Since its judgment of 5 November 1975 on the remuneration of Members of the Bundestag (2 BvR 193/74), the Federal Constitutional Court has reaffirmed this principle on a number of occasions. These principles are enshrined in the Act on the Legal Status of Members of the German Bundestag.

The level of Members’ remuneration is based on the emoluments payable to holders of offices subject to similar responsibilities and burdens. The 30th Act to Amend the Act on the Legal Status of Members of the German Bundestag, which came into force on 16 July 2014, cites the income of ordinary judges at the highest federal courts as a benchmark. 

The monthly remuneration received is adjusted once a year on 1 July and is currently at the level of 11.227,20 euro. It is based on the nominal wage index calculated by the Federal Statistical Office, which is forwarded by the President of the Federal Statistical Office to the President of the German Bundestag by 31 March every year. The adjusted amount is published as a Bundestag printed paper.  

This procedure for adjustment only continues to apply in a new electoral term if the Bundestag adopts a decision to that effect within three months following the constituent sitting. If no decision is taken within that time, the last amount calculated applies until the Bundestag confirms or amends the adjustment procedure in a law.

The remuneration is supplemented by a tax-free expense allowance to cover costs incurred by Members in the exercise of their parliamentary work. This sum is index-linked and is adjusted each year on the first of January. It currently amounts to 4,725.48 euro a month. All expenses relating to the parliamentary mandate, from expenditure incurred in connection with a constituency office and a second home in Berlin to the cost of office materials for the constituency office and of performing other constituency duties, are to be met using this allowance. (As at: July 2024)